


you say my name, i have no choice

by schoolzone



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Explicit Language, F/F, Fluff, jade uses cuss words like she was always meant to, might add additional tags later, robbie only shows up for the beginning of ch1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26183548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schoolzone/pseuds/schoolzone
Summary: It's a special day for Cat and she's not about to spend it alone, not on Jade's watch.
Relationships: Cat Valentine/Jade West
Comments: 13
Kudos: 91





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> we're gonna pretend i haven't had this in progress for 6 months now. will probably update weekly until i catch up to how far i've written, i'm so not used to posting my writing  
> yes cat's birthday was technically in june we are going to pretend we didn't hear that
> 
> title is from yours by now, now

Cat wasn’t at school today. 

Hardly any reason for her to care, Jade thought, because since when does she care about if her ‘friends’ come to school or not? Thinking about it, the only time she actually gave a shit was while she and Beck were still together and he didn’t show up, though she was more angry at him than anything else. So then why was she actually… concerned? And about Cat of all people? Arms crossed, she closed her eyes and sighed, letting her head fall back and bump against the scissor handles of her locker. 

She kept her eyes closed, but her brows furrowed, trying and failing to ignore the fact that she could hear Robbie’s distinct squeaky-sneaker footsteps coming towards her.

“Tough day, Jade Dragon?” She could practically hear his hesitant and tilted smile as he tried to get her to react or, god forbid, laugh. Jade lifted her head and stared him dead in the eyes.

“Never fucking call me that ever again.” She growled. Cat was still on her mind, but she was brought back to reality and shifted her attention down to chip at her nail polish.

“Woah, looks like I was right!” He laughed, she immediately snapped up to glare at him again and he just as quickly stopped and put his hands up in surrender. It was only then that she noticed he was holding a small bundle of roses in his hand, with a note attached. Her eyes went back to her nails and Robbie’s went to putting in his locker combination.

“H...Hey Jade?” With a more awkward air than before, he shifted papers around in his locker, pretending to look for something as to not meet her eyes.

“What is it. What could you possibly want.” Jade looked up again, coldly.

“You and Cat are like… close, right?” he glances up at her briefly. She squints.

“Debatable. But let me guess, you want to give her those,” only moving her head, she gestured towards the roses in his hand “as a birthday present.” Robbie looked at her sheepishly, removing his hand from the locker and slowly sliding it into his pocket.

“Is it that obvious?” 

Jade blinks slowly.

“I hope you know that’s the stupidest question I’ve heard all day. And I had to hear Tori speak in class this morning.”

“...So that's a yes?” His nervously avoidant gaze turns back to her as one of owlish worry. She groans loudly, throwing her head back and not wanting to waste her breath on any more of an answer. Instead, she crosses her arms and looks him in the eyes.

“What do you want Robbie?” At that, his gaze flicked to his shoes.

“Well I was just wondering if you, y’know, know where she is? And if she’s busy later today?”

“Why don't you ask her yourself.” Her voice flat, less like a question and more like calling him out. She actually felt angrier at him than she sounded, much to her surprise. Jade tells herself that it's because Cat doesn’t like him and that she just wants to protect her. She's not sure how much she believes herself. Robbie’s shoulders slump.

“I’ve been looking for her all day! That's why I’m asking  _ you _ where she is!” Both his free hand and the hand with roses move with exasperation, shaking off a leaf in the process. 

“And what makes you think  _ I  _ know where she is?” she snaps at him. Without realizing it, she stands a bit straighter, sharper. 

“I just thought that since you're best friends, you’d know!” He tries to combat her glare with a pleading look. It doesn't work.

“Well, you're right. I do. Definitely not about to tell you though.” She drops her arms, one hand down to tightly grip the strap of her bag. Jade turns around sharply, her boots loud as she near-stomps towards the vending machine. 

Turning the corner, she leans up against the wall out of Robbie’s sight and pulls out her pearphone. The texts with Cat are already open; Cat’s name displayed at the top bookended with heart emojis courtesy of her that Jade never removed. (Whenever their friends ask, she says she forgot to change it. She’d rather die than admit that she doesn’t want to hurt Cat’s feelings by removing them.) Expression much calmer than when talking with Robbie, she types her message.

jade:  _ hey cat jsyk robbies looking for you _

Cat responds quickly, not realizing what she said.

✨💓cat💓✨:  _ omg hi jadey!!!! how r u doin?? _

The corner of Jade’s mouth tilts up ever so slightly.

jade: _ im fine i just wanted to lyk tht robbie asked me where u are  _

jade:  _ he wants to give u smth and totally reeks of desperation but like. more than usual _

She pauses.

jade:  _ wait actually where tf are u i havent seen u today either _

✨💓cat💓✨:  _ im at home :(!!!! i woke up and my tummy was hurting really bad so im still in bed ;n; _

Her brow furrows.

jade:  _ oh fuck what? have u at least eaten smth? _

✨💓cat💓✨:  _ not yet D:> im home alone and it hurts too much to get uppp T-T _

Pale blue eyes dart up to read the time, concerned, only to see that it’s already well past noon. Her phone vibrates once, a new text from Cat.

✨💓cat💓✨:  _ im rly hungy jadey :( _

jade:  _ ok what do u want _

✨💓cat💓✨: _:??_

jade:  _ like what do you want to eat, ill pick it up and take it to u _

✨💓cat💓✨:  _ :O!!!!! _

jade:  _ well? _

✨💓cat💓✨:  _ um!!! can u get bf wangs pls?? we can share some noodles!! _

jade:  _ who said i was going to eat anything? _

✨💓cat💓✨:  _ hehehe okay jadey i definitely wont save u any then ;3c _

jade:  _ yeah yeah whatever. ill tty when im at ur door _

✨💓cat💓✨:  _ kk!!! dont 4get chopstix!!!!  _

Jade rolls her eyes, smiling slightly while pocketing her phone. She very briefly considers staying until school is over but quickly discards the thought. She may be cruel but she's not about to let Cat go any longer without eating. 

She walks to the parking lot with determination, students quickly clearing out of her way as soon as they see the stormy look on her face. She's almost at her car when Tori tries to stop her.

“Woah Jade, where are y—”

“No.” She quickly shuts her down, not looking at her as she unlocks her car and gets in, starting up the engine.

“Wait! We still have cl—” Tori’s cut off by the sound of Jade revving her engine to drown her out, then by the car driving away from her and out of the parking lot, soon onto the freeway.

Jade decides that she really doesn’t care at all about ditching today. Sure, maybe her favorite class was this afternoon and she was looking forward to cutting up Robbie’s roses when she saw him again, but… 

Her hands tighten on the steering wheel and she tries to ignore the fact that she really didn't hesitate to drop everything for Cat Valentine. She tries to ignore it so hard that she nearly misses her exit.


	2. Chapter 2

Considering LA traffic, it actually doesn’t take long for Jade to get to Cat’s house. She’s gone over countless times in the past years to the point where she’s developed her own strategy for efficiency, knowing what streets to take and turns to make like muscle memory. With the takeout food resting securely in the passenger seat, she decides on getting something in addition to the food, stopping at a convenience store on the route and leaving just as quickly as she arrived. 

Jade stands at Cat’s door with the food bags in one hand and her phone open to her contact in the other. She thumps the toe of her boot onto the welcome mat, looking down at it. There’s a cat printed on it, playing with a ball of yarn that stands in for the ‘O’ in ‘welcome’. At the thought of Cat picking it out, her expression softens; only at her relaxing them did she realize that her brow had been furrowed the entire drive there. 

She presses the call button. Cat picks up on the second ring, consistent with all their previous calls, and greets Jade happily, though, there is an underground thread of tiredness that does not go unnoticed over the phone.

“Hiiiiii!!” She could practically feel the warmth of her smile, a bit weakened and not quite as natural as normal, but a smile nonetheless. She is Cat, after all.

“Hey. I’m at the front door, what do you want me to do?” She scuffs her boot on the mat, readjusting her hold on the bags.

“Oh! Um… I can’t really go downstairs like this…,” She pauses, thinking. “I’m not too sure but maybe there’s a spare key under the kitty cat mat? I don’t know if my parents replaced it after my brother put it in the microwave though…” She continues, telling the story, and Jade only partly intentionally fades out, unphased by him nearly blowing up the house and instead lifting up the mat, only to see nothing there.

“Yeah, Cat?” She stops her mid-sentence.

“And then he— oh! Whatty?”

“There’s no key here, he must've done a number on the sucker.”

“Oh no!!!” Jade thinks she should be surprised at being able to actually hear multiple exclamation points but after knowing Cat so long, she’s really not. “I think I can get up to open my window? Maybe you can come in through there! You can jump up and be all,” she puts on a deeper voice as if to imitate Jade. “‘Whoosh! I’m here to save you Cat! I’m SuperJade and I won’t let anything hurt you, not even your tummy!’” Jade just knows that she’s play-punching the air. “‘Pow pow pow!!!’” She’s genuinely baffled that she let her go on like that for that long.

“Ok first of all, no. Second of all, you’re on the  _ second floor _ . Do you really expect me to climb up there and crawl through the window like some creep?”

“I dunno Jadey, I think it sounds kinda  _ romantic _ ! Like the movies on TV, hehe!” Jade’s throat clenches at the word ‘romantic’ and she’s suddenly finding it difficult to think. She swallows.

“...Please-y?” Jade sighs. Cat knows she hates it when she talks like that, and knows just as well that she has the upper hand when she does. She shakes her head and silently mouths the word ‘unbelievable’ to herself for what she’s going to say. 

“Ugh, fine! I’ll do it, just no more baby talk. But you owe me big time, got it, Valentine?” Jade thumps the toe of her boot on the ground, hard. She glares hard enough that she feels like she could burn a hole through the door, angry for succumbing so easily.

“Yeppers! Don’t worry, I pinky promise I’ll make it up to you! Just let me open the window!” From the other end, she can hear the slow shifting of the sheets at Cat’s cautious movement. She thinks she even hears the ever so smallest wince but she doesn’t bring it up.

Through the speaker, she hears the soft  _ whumpf  _ of Cat’s phone being tossed onto the bed and then the muffled struggle to get the window open. She gets decidedly bored of listening to the soundtrack of Cat’s Brutal Cramps: Movement Edition and carefully sets the bag from the grocery store onto the welcome mat, continuing to hold the takeout. Faintly, she hears the scrape of the window’s wood frame against the windowsill, accompanied by Cat’s small huff of accomplishment. 

“Kaykay Jadey, the window’s open for you! Fly up in here and cure me pweaseee..” She semi-shouts, which Jade could now hear better through the open window than through the phone. 

“I said no baby talk!” She hangs up and starts making her way around the house to Cat’s window, crunching twigs and flattening grass underfoot until she gets to the base of the large, sturdy tree next to it.

In any normal, rational situation, Jade would sooner be caught dead than climbing a tree. Even more so for the sake of crawling into a window. But really, she knew nothing with Cat was ever normal or rational. She nestles the handle of the plastic bag in the crook of her elbow and begins her slow ascent up the tree. Looking down at her is a small brown bird and she swears on that little fucker’s tiny heart that it’s mocking her. She squints and snaps her teeth at it, and it flies away.

“I really can’t BELIEVE I’m doing this,” She speaks loudly as her right hand finds a solid grip in the bark. “If I fall and bruise even one hair on me,” Right boot finds a hold. “I swear to GOD I’m gonna wring you out like a wet towel,” Left boot finds a knot to stand on. “So you better be hoping I get up there in one try.” Her hands grip the bark so tightly that she knows there’ll be some nasty tree-dirt caked under her nails after this. It better be worth it, she thinks.

“I was already hoping that!!” Cat spoke up and broke the rare silence she had while watching Jade make her way up the trunk. “I never ever want you to get hurt, silly!” 

Jade briefly pauses at that, and wonders if anyone else had cared whether she got hurt before. She shakes her head to herself, refusing to think about it any longer, and continues her ascent.

“C’mon Jadey, you’re almost there! You can do it!!” She’s right, and Jade’s genuinely grateful for it because she could feel the bark long since leaving red marks on her palms and the plastic bag doing the same to the crook of her arm.

She feels mildly lucky that the last branches are so close to the windowsill because finally, she’s able to get a grip on the white wood and begins clumsily scrambling inside. Cat tries to hold onto her arms as soon as she’s within reach and Jade only briefly lets herself think about how her touch burns. Not painful, but a calm, feverish burn, just under the surface. A warmth that makes her want more of it. This is normal, she thinks. Evil things are supposed to burn at the touch of an angel, right? The heat disappears quickly, however, as Cat carefully slips the bag of takeout off Jade’s arm, setting it down on her desk next to the window. 

“Christ, how do desperate dudes do this shit in movies?” Jade grumbles, securely planting her right foot on the windowsill. She shakily leans forward with her forearms on either side of it, white-knuckling the frame for balance. 

“I’m not too sure! Maybe they’re just super strong! Oh!! Or maybe like in Sky High they can just fly or control plants so they don’t fall!” Cat stands in front of her, arms out and ready for if she falls forward. 

“Can’t say,” Jade huffs, winded. “that I’ve seen it.” She hears Cat gasp dramatically at that, but she isn’t able to pay it any mind, as she gets the feeling of her other foot slipping as she tries to get it off the tree.

“SHIT, FUCK! CAT!” Her stomach drops and she yells, pitching herself forward through the window to avoid falling back. She snaps her eyes shut as she loses her balance, bracing for impact. Instead of a solid  _ crack _ of her skull on the floor, she gets the soft, warm landing against Cat’s chest, followed immediately by the thud of Jade’s momentum having knocked Cat onto her butt, as well as a soft wince of pain.

“Hehehe… It’s floor time..” Cat lies down fully, and Jade doesn’t even need to look at her to know that her eyes have fluttered closed and she’s got a silly little smile accompanying her laugh, despite how they almost got hurt.

“Sure, Cat, floor time.” She’s stiff in the embrace at first, adrenaline’s firm hold on her in place, but as it dies down she begins to space out. She can’t help it, really, when she’s in Cat’s arms. Sure, she’s just been ‘saved’ from falling off a 2-story-tall tree and snapping her neck but more importantly,  _ she’s in Cat’s arms  _ and she  _ doesn’t hate it _ . Jade was focusing almost exclusively on how comfortable and warm she felt, letting her eyes slide shut and feeling herself relax as she took a moment to breathe. She actually… doesn’t mind this. She can feel the slow rise and fall of Cat’s chest and for a moment she thinks she might actually.. like this feeling.

At that realization, Jade’s eyes snap open, plants her hands on either side of Cat, and pushes herself up.  _ No.  _ Hell _ no. There’s no way I actually liked that. I do not like being held by Cat Valentine _ . She feels the familiar feverish heat pool in her face.

Cat opens her eyes to pout at her for getting up, but Jade has already averted her attention to dusting herself off.

“God, I can’t believe you made me climb up that filthy tree,” Jade’s upper lip curls in disgust at the dirt and crumbs of tree bark caked under her nails and embedded in her palms. She brushes them off, trying her best to distract herself from how she’s burning.

“But I didn’t make you do anything Jade! It just woulda been-,” Cat tries to sit up and Jade looks over at her, just in time to catch her wincing. “Really hard to go downstairs..” She hisses and Jade’s last-ditch attempts at callousness dissolve.

“Shit, hey, are you okay?” She quickly turns back towards Cat, cringing slightly at how concerned she must look.

“Yeah! It’s just,” Cat gingerly adjusts herself, holding her arm over her stomach protectively. “A little hurty.”

“Can I…,” Jade chews a bit on her bottom lip, debating. “Can I help you up?” 

Cat looks up at her and blinks with wide eyes that remind Jade of a baby deer. They brighten as she realizes that the offer was genuine. Jade looks away, growing more and more embarrassed as the moment ticks on.

“That’s so nice of you!” Excited, Cat moves to get up and hug her but is immediately reminded why she was offered help in the first place. She returns to her position of cradling her stomach. “Mmng.. no moving.. please help me Jadey.”

“Fuck, okay, I got you,” Jade moves to help but stops, unsure which position to help would be best. “Uh. Do you think you can get up or..? Like, slower or something?”

“Maybe. C’mere?” Cat holds her arms out towards her, making grabby motions with her hands.

“Uh. Okay.” Jade warily bends down, enough to be within arm’s reach for her.

Cat wraps her arms securely around her neck and Jade begins to feel like the room is heating up. Wrapping her arms around her waist to support her, she feels the soft puffs of air on the side of her neck, and it starts to feel like something more than just helping a friend stand. Cat giggles and pulls her head back to look at Jade.

“Hey Jadey, if you were a giraffe like Mr. Purple, you would have so much more neck to grab on to! Where would I hold on? The top? The bottom? The ears??” Jade can’t help but look in admiration at how bright Cat’s smile is when she laughs. Quickly, Cat’s expression shifts to a more pensive one; she nods to herself and looks Jade in the eyes in complete seriousness. “I’m really glad you're not a giraffe.” And the mirth returns to her face as quickly as it had left.

Jade blinks. Nevermind, this is definitely still the same Cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chap update before my birthday 😏 kinda embarrassing that ill be 19 and a victorious enjoyer but whatever


	3. Chapter 3

“Jesus, are there ANY painkillers in this house?” Jade grumbles loudly as she rummages through the bathroom medicine cabinet for a third time.

“Not after my brother took them all and blended them up into our smoothies.” Cat says casually from her spot on the bed holding her plush giraffe and Jade stops in her tracks, poking her head out of the bathroom door frame.

“I can’t believe I’m asking you to continue a story but what the fuck, did you drink it?” She says, loud enough for Cat to hear from across the hall. 

“Well, not exactly. See, my parents were worried that he did something to it so they had my neighbor’s dog try it! I asked him how it was but I don’t speak pitbull yet so I had a tiny taste from my cup and… don’t tell him I told you but…” She shakes her head and cups a hand around her mouth, as if to whisper, but keeps the same volume. “it wasn’t very good.”

“Really. Sounds gourmet to me.” Having given up the search, Jade pads back over into Cat’s room and goes to sit on the edge of her bed.

“It wasn’t,” She pouts. “He also put in blueberries and motor oil when he knows I don’t like blueberries! The insides aren’t even blue, they should be called something else, like—“ Jade silently stops her with a couple bumps of her knuckles against her thigh. 

“Hey, we were talking about painkillers remember? You gonna be okay without them?” When she speaks, her tone betrays her, sounding far more gentle than she planned it to be.

“Oh! Yeah, I think I’ll be okay. It’s still doing its hurtsies but I can handle it!” Cat puffs up her chest and salutes, putting on a show of confidence even though Jade has known for years that she has a low tolerance for pain. The fact that she’s feeling okay enough to be playful puts her a little bit at ease about it, if nothing else, so Cat feels accomplished all the same. 

“Okay, in that case, how about we have some of that Chinese food already?” Jade asks with a smirk, getting up off the bed. “I’ll get some drinks from the kitchen and we can eat up here.”

“Yay!!” Cat paddles her feet happily “There’s soda in the fridge for us, just don’t touch the can with the hair taped to it, okay?” Jade stares at her blankly.

“What are y-- Actually, y’know what?” She puts her hands up in surrender. “I don’t wanna know.” She makes her way over to the doorway, pausing briefly, and looks back at Cat, only to see that she was already looking at her. They lock eyes and Jade feels her face heat up, shifting her stance under her gaze but can’t bring herself to look away. They stay like that for a moment too long, long enough for Cat to tilt her head in curiosity.

“What’s wrong Jadey?” 

Maybe she’s somehow delirious from the fall or... something. Jade’s not sure, but decides that must be the reason why she thinks she sees the ghost of a smile in Cat’s questioning look. Why, when she first turned back, Cat’s eyes looked more gentle than normal, like she was gazing at Jade how Beck would look at her when she caught him from across a room, once upon a time. 

Like how she’s caught herself looking at Cat.

She turns her head to the hallway, tearing her eyes away from Cat’s gravity and then remembers that the gravity is awaiting a response.

“Nothing,”  _ Not good enough for such a gay stare,  _ she thinks.  _ Try again, West _ . “Thought there was a leaf in your hair.” 

“Oh! Okay, I’ll check right now!” It was a pathetically weak lie and they both knew it, but Cat had the grace, generosity, wherewithal, pity — Jade isn’t sure which — to not mention it. Yet another way she was different from Jade, yet another reason why the thought of Cat had been making her insides stir lately. 

She gives a curt nod and hums in response, making her way down the hall and carefully padding down the stairs to the kitchen, only to prop her elbows on the counter, face in her hands. 

“God, you’re so stupid.” Jade sighs and mumbles into her palms. She’s not even sure who she said it about, really, but after a moment of thought, she decides it’s definitely to herself. Cat Valentine isn’t stupid and Jade knows it — regardless of what she says out loud. After a minute of stewing, she heaves her head back up and goes over to the front door, unlocking it and picking up the bag she left on the welcome mat, then deadbolting it again. She fits the bag into the freezer, shifting around sacks of frozen fruit, microwavable dinners, and a bald Barbie doll, half encased in a block of red-colored ice, legs sticking out as though they were a popsicle stick. Jade makes a mental note of that last one, both for conversation’s sake and that it as a concept might serve well for a future project.

By the time she’s trudging back upstairs, still mentally scolding herself, she’s got two cold cans of soda in her hands -- strawberry for Cat and a knockoff Dr. Pepper for herself -- and Cat’s favorite fork (a My Melody themed one Jade had gotten her online a few months prior — it came with a matching Kuromi knife, which Jade secretly kept for herself, stored away in her nightstand drawer) between her fingers. She bumps the door open with her foot and sees Cat, curled with her knees to her chest, perk up upon seeing her. Jade could swear she heard a sniffle right before she opened the door, but decides to take a page out of Cat’s book and not mention it.

“Here.” Jade says, holding out the can and fork to her, hoping it’s enough of a distraction from whatever the sniffling may have been about. Cat looks up at her quizzically with her big doe eyes that Jade has now decided she will never be able to ignore.

“Why’d you bring a fork, Pringle? You did get chopsticks, right?” The nickname, however, she can and will choose to ignore.  _ She’s in pain _ , she thinks.  _ Might as well give her a break. _

“No, I’m gonna scoop the noodles into my hand and eat from it like I’m a horse,” Jade drips with sarcasm. Nonetheless, Cat opens her mouth to respond, but Jade beats her to the punch. “I did get chopsticks, just thought I should bring your fork for when you get tired of using them.”

Cat looks up at her with her big, caring eyes and a sappy smile growing on her face, and Jade averts her gaze (can’t look at the sun too long, after all) and shoves the can closer to her.

“Hurry up and take it, my hand’s freezing.” Jade huffs and Cat takes the items, looking much happier than before. Jade can’t help the warmth spreading through her chest at the sight, and allows herself a soft smile of her own. Cat catches a glimpse of it and she’s absolutely elated, wiggling in excitement from her spot on the bed, and quickly pats the space next to her for Jade to sit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda short update for today. since this fic was supposed to be one cohesive piece, the starts & ends of the chapters probably seem pretty abrupt - not sure what i can do to change it or if i would want to so i'm just gonna post it how i originally wrote it, i hope yall don't mind cade nation


End file.
